The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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The digital customer represents a new breed of consumer. While traditional customers are also alive and well, digital customers are elusive, discerning, distracted and proudly narcissistic. To reach and engage these connected customers requires a relevant and informed approach that meets them on their terms, in their communities, in the right ways at the right time. This takes a significant investment in new strategy, technology, expertise and business models shaped and informed by data, insights and empathy.

One of the most interesting trends in the evolution of business is digital transformation.

Today, CMOs are rivaling CIOs in technology investments as digital customers demand modernized, personalized and efficient experiences. As marketing technology (martech) advances to meet the demands of mobile, social and real-time, marketers and technologists are scrambling to adapt while paving new roads to customer engagement.

So what is digital transformation then if it isn’t just about technology?

After several years of researching the topic, I define it as the realignment of, or new investment in technology, business models, and processes to create new value for customers and employees and more effectively compete in an ever- changing digital economy. And, a solid place to start change begins with what I call the new Ps of business, People, Purpose, Promise and Partnerships.

Meet Generation C, A Generation Of Connected Customers Bound Not By Age But By Active Digital Lifestyles

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." – Albert Einstein

Every day, customers are becoming more and more connected. As they do, they also become more informed, empowered and demanding. This results in notable shifts in behavior, preferences and standards. How they discover brands, how they make decisions, how they influence one another, and what it is they value are also evolving.

It’s been said that connected customers aka Generation-C don’t want products, they want experiences. And those experiences must be meaningful so that they can in turn become shareable.

As Marcie Merriman, executive director of growth strategy and retail innovation at Ernst & Young, shared her thoughts on the important relationship between experiences and connected consumers with Business of Fashion, "Experiences define them much more than the products that they buy. Their entire life, if it’s not shareable, it didn’t happen."

Now, everything about a brand must now be updated or re-imagined to deliver relevant experiences in not just products but in all facets of the customer journey. But, a significant gap is spreading between how customer preferences, aspirations and values are playing out and how executives forecast performance against shareholder/stakeholder expectations.

Part of the problem is that executives do not live the brand the way customers do and as a result, they make decisions about new investments based on they see the world not how they world is.